One thing I always look at in post-apocalyptic literature is how they treat transportation: notably, are people still driving cars and how long can they do so and under what conditions?
Entering our current oil crunch, I think it’s obvious how fragile the ecosystem around cars are, but just letting the car sit unused and untreated for as little as a month can start to introduce\ problems. The idea that you can just pop into a car that’s been abandoned for 3 years, pull the keys out from behind the visor, and start driving is unrealistic.
-
Best: The Postman. We’re back to walking and riding horses.
-
Good: The Last of Us, Season 1. People walk or ride horses, when our heroes DO find a working truck, it is treated as the jackpot it is–and I think it even had a spare gas tank in the back to maximize distance traveled to harvest gasoline. Realistically, gas as a fuel for fires would be a valuable enough commodity that it would have been scavenged, but they need to do some traveling and high speed dragons are not available in this genre (Reign of Fire aside).
-
Worst: Jericho. Nuclear explosions in the US pretty much wreck everything and despite the town of Jericho being completely isolated, people just drive their pickup trucks around all seasons long without comment. Horses and bicycles are maddeningly present but rarely used. I think the show thought American audiences could accept a premise where the federal government collapses after multiple nuclear strikes, but not where people in Kansas got off oil dependency–that would be too out there.
I think you’d see more bikes. A lot less upkeep than a horse, you can find them relatively easy, and they can sit in a garage for months or years and only need some minor maintenance to get going again.
Edit: I can’t think of any books I’ve read recently that depicts primarily bike based transportation though. Probably because it doesn’t look super cool lol
Bigger pedal-powered vehicles might make sense, too. There’s less sensitivity to extra weight from a primitive construction. Those mobile peddleable bars for tourists come to mind.
Even bicycles would be ruined quite fast. Bearings are quite intricate things, you cant really make one on your own very easily. Unless you have some excellent metal making capabilities and accurate lathes. They also need lubrication.
My dad does some bicycling and hes doing small maintenance ever 80-100km or so. Major maintenance once or twice a year. Involves lubrication, cleaning stuff, tightening things, changing parts…
The amount of oil you need to lubricate something is much more doable, though. If there’s not a drop of petroleum, castor oil was the historical choice, and animal fat is probably also thick enough to work.
Bearings are a massive chicken and egg problem if you don’t have one to start with, but in this scenario you definitely start with them. You’re probably not going to make the really fancy ones, but a basic roller, ball or journal bearing seems doable. They did it way back in the day, right?
I think bikes would definitely be the go-to for utility and ease of repair… but there is definitely a missing cool factor missing for the hero.
I think wild horse populations would rebound quickly, depending on the nature of the apocalypse, making them easier to replace a few decades out.
I forget the title, but there is a zombie apocalypse book I read years ago where a man, his 1 year old son, and his neighbor escape their town on bicycles with attached wagons/child buggy. They do alright for the most part
And bikes are quieter than cars, too, especially handy around noise-sensitive zombies.
Absolutely! The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks dedicates a portion to transportation, and bikes are definitely the preferred means. Considering you can coast and conserve energy while still outpacing the zombies (assuming shambler’s instead of sprinters), bikes are awesome.
“Dies The Fire” SM Sterling.
One day the laws of physics change. Guns and electric power no longer work.
One of the first groups to gain power is a motorcycle gang that loots a bike store.
First book in the series is B plus, the rest get worse imho